Dinner for Too Many
by Westing1992
Summary: Garnet is taking Steven out to dinner! But as it turns out, they're not the only ones heading to the restaurant that night...
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I do not own Steven Universe._

* * *

"Garnet's taking me out to dinner tonight!"

Steven was telling this to the two people within earshot at Fish Stew Pizza. Jenny was working the counter, her dad and grandmother in the back, actually making the pizzas while her sister was off delivering them. Sour Cream sat at one end of the counter, playing a mobile game on his phone; despite this, it was clear he was still listening and paying attention to the younger boy.

"I take it that you don't do that often?" he said.

"No!" said Steven. "Sometimes Amethyst tags along with me to get food from the boardwalk, but they never go out of their way to _take_ me to a restaurant. The last time that happened, we were meeting Connie's parents."

"So, is there any special reason why you're going tonight?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know," said Steven. "Garnet just told me this morning that she was taking me to dinner tonight, straight out of the blue. She didn't tell me why, but hey, I'm not questioning it." He took another bite of his pizza.

Another customer entered. It was Lars.

"Hey Lars!" Steven yelled, waving.

Lars groaned but nevertheless sat down at the counter, between Steven and Sour Cream.

"What can I get you, Lars?" Jenny asked.

"Erm… I'll have two slices of cheese," Lars responded. Jenny put his order in front of him. "Hey, uh… I was wondering," he said, "if you'd like to go out for dinner tonight."

"I've got plans," Sour Cream said, not looking up from his game.

"Wha—I wasn't talking to you!" Lars sputtered. "I was talking to Jenny!"

"You're asking me out on a date?" said Jenny.

"Well, uh… yeah."

"What?" said Steven. "But what about you and Sadie? Did you break up?"

Lars gave a sigh of frustration. "Look, Steven, Sadie and I were really ever together in the first place. And after everything that's happened between us, I doubt we ever will be. We're fine working together and just being friends, but anything beyond that… would be a bad idea."

"That's surprisingly mature of you, Lars," Jenny remarked. "It's a far cry from that 'look out for number one' attitude from a few years back."

"Uh, thanks," Lars sputtered self-consciously. "So, uh… _do_ you want to go on a date tonight?"

Jenny shrugged. "Sure, okay."

"Really?" said Lars, sounding surprised that she accepted. "Great!"

"So, where are we gonna go and when are we gonna go there?"

"Oh!" said Lars, who had obviously forgotten that pertinent information. "Um, how about the White Wall Grill at 6:15?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," said Jenny.

"The White Wall Grill?" said Steven. "Hey, that's where _I'm_ going for dinner!"

"What?" Lars exclaimed, swiveling around to look at Steven. "You mean tonight?"

"Yeah! Garnet's taking me!"

"At 6:15?"

"Around that time, yeah."

The color drained from Lars' face. He turned back to Jenny. "Um… perhaps we could reschedule? Or change the venue?"

"Oh no you don't," Jenny said crossly. "If you ask me out for a specific time and place, you don't get to change it just so you can avoid Steven."

Lars groaned. "Okay, fine," he said. "But I don't want him bugging us."

"No problem," said Steven. "I'll probably be talking to Garnet the whole time." He hopped off the stool. "Anyways, I'm going to get dessert."

He went outside and made his way to the Big Donut.

"Hey Steven!" Sadie said as he walked inside.

"Hey Sadie!" Steven replied. "One jelly-filled donut, please!"

"Sure thing," Sadie said, grabbing a donut and putting it into a bag.

Steven fished around in his pocket for some money. "Sorry to hear about you and Lars."

"What? What about us?"

"That you're not dating."

"Oh," said Sadie. "No, we're not… That trip to that island kind of put a strain on our relationship. But we managed to stay friends. Which is good, because we're still co-workers." She gave a small smile. "So, what brought this on?"

"Well, I was just at Stew Fish Pizza, and Lars asked Jenny out on a date."

Sadie, who was just about to put Steven's money into the cash register, paused. "He did?"

"Yeah," Steven said. He chuckled. "Funny story; they're actually going to the same restaurant that me and Garnet are going to tonight! At the same exact time!"

"Really?" said Sadie. "And exactly where and when would that be?"

"The White Wall Grill at around 6:15," said Steven. He shrugged. "It's just one of those funny coincidences. Well, bye!"

Grabbing his donut, he exited the store, stopping briefly to hold the door open for Ronaldo. "Hey Ronaldo!"

"Huh? Oh, hi, Steven!" Ronaldo said. But Steven was already merrily skipping home, thinking about how much fun he'd have that night.

* * *

At 6:15, Lion materialized in front of the White Wall Grill with two riders. Steven and Garnet hopped down and headed inside.

"Hi Steven!" Jenny greeted them. She and Lars were still waiting to be seated.

"Hi Jenny!" Steven said cheerfully. "Heya, Lars!"

Lars scowled and tried to ignore him, but caught the disapproving look from his date. "Hi, Steven," he said through a strained smile.

"Greetings," said Garnet. "I hope your evening has been pleasant so far."

"Well, we only just started," said Jenny. "Though admittedly, we've been waiting for a bit long."

"And I made sure we leave early specifically so this didn't happen!" said Lars, looking directly at Steven.

"Sorry to hear that," Steven said.

"I also apologize," said Garnet. "I hope the rest of this night doesn't cause you too much distress."

The door opened again and two more people entered, ones who were familiar to the others but whom they had not expected to meet that night.

"Sadie! Ronaldo!" Steven said excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Yes," said Lars suspiciously. "What _are_ you doing here?"

"We're on a date!" Ronaldo said proudly, putting his arm around Sadie.

"Really?" said Jenny. "You asked donut girl here out?"

"Actually, I asked him," said Sadie. "Ronaldo's not exactly the type of guy who really takes initiative."

"Unless that initiative's in keeping Beach City weird!" Ronaldo exclaimed. "I assume you've all read my blog?"

"Well, uh," Jenny mumbled, "I know you keep talking about it when you're in the restaurant, but I haven't really had the time to…"

"Oh, that's okay!" said Ronaldo. "I can show you right now!" He pulled out his smartphone and began showing Jenny his blog.

A waitress came out. "Sorry about the wait," she said. "We're a bit short tonight; a lot of our staff had mysterious car trouble. But we can seat you now."

"Great!" said Sadie, grabbing Ronaldo away from Jenny. "Lead on! Table for two!"

"Hey!" said Lars. "Me and Jenny were here first!" He paused. "Actually, go ahead and seat them. Steven and the Gem lady too. That way, you can then sit us at a table far away from anyone else."

The waitress seemed a bit unnerved by this rather blunt request, but nonetheless lead Ronaldo and Sadie to their table, then returned and lead Steven and Garnet to theirs.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked as she placed the menus down.

"Orange soda!" Steven happily exclaimed.

"Nothing," said Garnet.

"Er, so do you just want water?" asked the waitress. "Because there's no charge…"

"No, nothing," said Garnet. "I'm not thirsty."

"Well then," the waitress said, clearly wishing she was one of the restaurant's employees whose car had refused to start if _this_ type of clientele was coming out tonight. "I'll go check on the other tables, so decide what you want."

Steven looked over his menu, his mind hard at work in deciding what to order. Garnet's menu remained on the table in front of her, unopened.

The waitress returned with Steven's soda. "Are you ready to order?" she asked.

"I'll have the barbecue ribs, please," said Steven. "Oh! And the unlimited salad bar!"

"I will also have the salad bar," said Garnet.

"Okay, do you want an entrée to go with it or…"

"Just the salad bar."

"…Okay," the waitress said. "Well, your ribs will be ready in a few minutes, but you can go ahead and get your salads right now."

"Okay! Thanks!" Steven leapt off his seat and glanced at Garnet. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"I'll go when there's less traffic."

Steven looked over to the salad bar; there was nobody there. "Um, okay," he said, and walked to it.

He grabbed a plate and loaded it with salad, cucumbers, croutons, shredded cheese, and a lot of other good stuff. As he was reaching for the ranch dressing, he noticed Sadie waiting behind him.

"Oh!" said Steven. "Sorry, am I holding you up?"

"No, it's fine," said Sadie.

"Okay," said Steven, and he continued building his salad. However, he became aware of another person getting in line. Lars, like earlier, was clearly unhappy, but it wasn't from impatience with Steven filling his plate; instead, his mood was directed at Sadie.

"I know what you're doing," he said.

"I'm getting a salad," Sadie said bitterly.

"Not that! I _know_ it's not just a coincidence that you and Ronaldo showed up at the same time and place as my date with Jenny."

"Steven's here too. Is that _also_ not a coincidence?"

"That's different!" Lars shouted. He then realized that shouting might attract too much undue attention, so he made a concerted effort in lowering his voice. "Look," he said through gritted teeth, "I know you're just trying to make me jealous."

"Or maybe," said Sadie, "you're jealous and trying to put the blame on _me_ for it."

"Well, I'll be heading back to my table now," said Steven hurriedly. He left the two donut shop employees to get their salads and continue their argument.

"I guess I see what you meant by traffic," he said to Garnet when he sat back down. He glanced back over at the salad bar, where said traffic was still sniping at each other, straining to keep to a low volume. "Wow, they're really going at it, aren't they?"

"Yes," said Garnet, getting up. "I'm going to get my salad now."

"But Lars and Sadie are still—oh," he said, watching as the two of them stomped back to their tables, leaving the area clear so that Garnet was able to get her salad without interrupting them.

She returned with a plate filled up with lettuce and nothing else, which she proceeded to nibble on, eating it with her hands. Steven started eating his as well, but his mind kept turning to his fellow patrons' feud. "Do you think they can work things out?"

"Perhaps," said Garnet. "But do not worry about them, or at least not tonight. That is not the task we came here to do."

"Yeah," said Steven, "but I just wish there was something I could do to help them. To make them both happy again."

"I understand your desire, but if there is nothing you can do directly, and if the problem does not affect you directly, and it is not the proper time to interfere besides, it does no good to worry."

"So I should just stop caring about the people I care about?"

"No; you just need to realize that, though your words may guide them, ultimately, it is Lars and Sadie themselves who have to resolve their conflict. So don't get too upset over things you can't control. She ate another leaf of lettuce. "We should find other topics to discuss. For example, perhaps you could update me on what's happening in Crying Breakfast Friends."

"Ooh!" said Steven, perking up. "That's a great idea!" He shoved a forkful of salad into his mouth. "So," he began while chewing, "in the last episode, Sad Waffle and Spilled Milk were at the beach…"


	2. Chapter 2

Garnet had long since finished her salad; Steven had likewise finished his own, plus the ribs he had ordered, and all his soda. They had discussed many topics over the course of their meal, and though Garnet wasn't very talkative, she was a great listener.

There was only one thing, Steven thought, that could make this evening better.

"Can we get dessert?" he asked.

"Sorry, Steven," said Garnet, "there isn't enough time."

"There isn't?" said Steven. He looked a clock on the wall. "But my bedtime isn't for another—"

The clock—and the wall it was on—was destroyed from the outside by a large, purple gorilla-like creature with a jewel in its forehead.

Garnet leapt to her feet, summoning her gloves. "I'll deal with the creature! You make sure the humans are safe!"

"Okay!" Steven shouted. Glancing about the restaurant, he saw that most of the people inside had already taken some sort of cover, save for Ronaldo, who was standing in the middle of the room, pointing his phone at the battle.

"Ronaldo!" Steven admonished, pulling him away. "You have to get to safety!"

"But I'm recording this for my blog!" Ronaldo protested.

"You've got enough footage!" Steven cried, and he shoved him into the men's bathroom. He ran about the room looking for the other diners.

He found Jenny hiding under a table. "You okay?" he asked.

"Physically? Sure," Jenny replied. "Emotionally? _We're being attack by a giant gorilla!_ "

"Technically, it's just a Gem creature that _looks_ like a gorilla," said Steven. "And don't worry, everything's under—"

"Look out!" Jenny yelled.

The creature had thrown a chair across the room at them; Steven adeptly summoned his shield and blocked it. "Everything's still under control," he said, "but we still ought to get everybody out of harm's way. Where's Lars?"

"I don't know; he fled once the fighting started."

"Don't worry, I'll find him. Now, come on," he said, and pulled Jenny across the restaurant and to the door to refuge.

"But that's the boy's bathroom!" Jenny protested.

"Don't worry, it's just Ronaldo in there," Steven said, and pushed her through.

Garnet and the creature stumbled past, locked in a grapple. "You need any help?" Steven asked.

"If I needed help, I would have brought the others," Garnet said. "Just take care of the staff and patrons."

"Okay," said Steven, wondering a bit about her comment about bringing the others. He headed off to the kitchen area, where the chefs and the waitress, who was _really_ wishing her car couldn't start, were hiding out. "Is everyone okay?"

The employees, not completely certain what was going on, nodded.

Steven glanced around. "Are Lars and Sadie in here?"

"Who are Lars and Sadie?" the waitress asked. But Steven had already left to look for them.

He found them huddled behind the now-overturned salad bar, clinging to one another.

"Great! You're not hurt!" Steven cried happily. "Now, let me escort you to another room…"

"With that _thing_ still on its rampage?" said Lars. "No way. It'll see us if we try to move!"

"Lars is right," said Sadie. "Other places might have more protection, but to get there, we'll have to expose ourselves to that monster."

"But she's too preoccupied with fighting Garnet!"

This, however, was quickly proven wrong as the creature, having spotted the young hybrid, and consequently the hidden humans, charged at them. They screamed, but Steven managed to summon his shield once more, blocking its intended punch and slowing it down enough that Garnet was able to deliver one final blow to defeat it; its gem dropped to the ground and she bubbled it.

"Good job, Steven. Our work here is done."

Steven glared at her. "You knew about this all along, didn't you?" he said angrily.

"I did. My future vision alerted me this morning that—"

"I thought you were taking me to dinner as a treat! But really, the only reason you took me along was because you wanted my help to fight this monster!"

Garnet stood silent until at last, she spoke: "You're right. I should have informed you of my exact intentions beforehand. I could try to justify myself by claiming that I didn't want you to be anxious of what was going to come, but no. I withheld the true purpose of this trip from you, and I am sorry."

This neutralized Steven's anger. He gave a big sigh. "I guess I understand. It's just… it hurts, you know? I wanted us to hang out together because you're my friend, not because you had some ulterior motive."

Garnet smiled. "Then I guess I'll just have to make up for it."

"Do you mean…"

"Yes. We can go out to dinner again tomorrow. And there'll be no Gem attacks, I promise."

"All right!" Steven ran to her and gave her a huge hug.

"I knew you'd like that," Garnet said. "Now, I'm going to inform everyone that the danger is past. You and your friends can wait out here."

"Okay!" he said as Garnet left. He looked around. "Boy, it's sure a mess in here," he said. He turned to Lars and Sadie. "Can you help me clean up a little? Just so that the staff doesn't have to do it all."

"Huh? Er, I guess we could do that," said Lars.

"Well then, let's start with this salad bar." He led Lars and Sadie in lifting the bulky object back upright. Soon, although its contents had been dumped on the floor, it otherwise closely resembled how it had been when the three had been getting their salads.

Sadie looked at this and tentatively turned to Lars. "You were right," she said.

"About what?"

"About trying to make you jealous by coming here. But that wasn't fair to you, and it definitely wasn't fair to Ronaldo. He's a nice guy, but I don't really want to date him. The person I'd really like to date… is you. But if you'd rather be with Jenny, I'll let you two be."

"Sadie…" said Lars. "I… I _do_ like Jenny… but I like _you_ more. But I can't _be_ with you. Because I know I'll just hurt you, just like I hurt you so many times before. I hurt you just by going out with Jenny. I hurt you when I accused you of trying to make me jealous, even if it was true. I don't want to hurt you, I don't mean to, but I always winding up hurting you anyway. So it would be best for me to stay away from you."

"Lars, don't," said Sadie, tears in her eyes. "Yes, you've hurt me, but I forgive you. And I've hurt you several times too. The island… the fire salt… tonight… We've both made mistakes. But if we acknowledge that we've made those mistakes, then maybe we can learn to stop making them… together."

"So… you're saying you'd be willing to start an actual relationship?" said Lars.

"Only if you are."

"I am."

The two of them embraced. After a while, Sadie pulled away with a horrified look on her face. "What are we gonna tell our dates?"

"Why not just tell them the truth?" Steven suggested.

"Because not everyone's as understanding as you are, Steven!" Lars groused. "We need to think of a way to smooth things over so that they don't get too angry."

"Well, you'd better think of it soon, because here they come."

Jenny and Ronaldo were walking across the upturned dining area to where their dates were.

"Oh! Hey, guys!" Lars said nervously.

"Hey," said Ronaldo, also nervously. "Um, Jenny and I have something to tell you. Something… you might not like."

Their dates glanced at each other, somewhat bewildered. "What is it?" Sadie asked.

"Well," said Jenny, "when we were in the bathroom, waiting for the monster attack to be over, well, we started talking about his blog and stuff, and it turns out he's actually really interesting!"

"Yeah, he's like that," said Steven.

"And so, we thought it would be nice for me to go over to Ronaldo's house after this so he can show me some more of his stuff, so, uh… would you mind letting us drive home in the delivery car, while you two take Sadie's mom's van?"

Lars and Sadie looked at each other and smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem," Sadie said.

"Really?" said Ronaldo. "That's a relief! We were worried you might be jealous!"

The two coworkers laughed. "Believe us," said Lars, "we are _definitely_ not jealous."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "You know, that sounded vaguely insulting, but I'm going to just ignore it and leave with Ronaldo." She looked around. "I guess we should pay our bill first. It looks like this place is going to need the money."

"Allow me," Garnet said. She pulled a wad of bills from her hair and placed it on one of the tables. "This should be enough for all three of our meals," she said. "Plus the costs of repairs. Plus a substantial tip for our waitress."

"Well, that's all settled!" said Lars. He, Sadie, Jenny, and Ronaldo all walked out. Garnet started to leave as well, but Steven stopped her.

"I think we should stay and help clean up a little more," said Steven, indicating the White Wall Grill employees who had emerged from the kitchen and were looking around, dismayed at the state of their workplace.

Garnet shrugged. "We can do that."

"You did a nice job helping clean up," said Steven. They were walking out of the restaurant, having assisting in righting tables, sweeping up, and doing other tasks that didn't require a skilled carpenter.

"You did a nice job, too," said Garnet.

"Thanks!" said Steven. He thought for a bit. "And you also did a good job fighting the Gem, all things considered."

"And _you_ did a wonderful job protecting everybody."

"Thanks, though it would have probably been tougher if there were more people. It's a good thing that so many employees had car trouble."

"Yes; Amethyst, Pearl, and Peridot performed their task quite sufficiently."

"Wait; _they_ caused those car problems?" Steven thought for a bit. "Huh. I guess that makes sense."

"I wanted as few bystanders at the scene as possible. Though I am sure you could have handled more, I didn't feel the need to take unnecessary risks."

"I just wish the restaurant didn't get destroyed before we could get dessert."

"Then how about we stop for ice cream?" Garnet asked, smiling.

Steven gasped. "Yes!"

The two hopped on Lion and warped to the nearest ice cream place.


End file.
